There's a story, perhaps apocryphal, that British royal archers of the lastcentury would wait until the queen had shot an arrow at a target, then runto draw a bull's-eye around where it struck. That dramatically improved thequeen's archery score, but not the quality of the queen's archery.Unfortunately, a number of people today believe it's possible to employ thesame slippery strategy to the issue of academic standards in our publicschools.

Simply put, we're beginning to see backsliding toward the low level ofexpectation that created the crisis in our schools. Forty-nine states haveset appropriate educational standards and are putting rigorous tests inplace to measure achievement. But when the first round of testing provedsomething we already knew -- that many kids are unprepared to get over thehigher bar -- some officials, beset by public pressure, are rushing to"dumb down" the tests, delay them or, worse, walk away from them altogether.

These now are isolated decisions. But unless we speak up in support ofstudents, there's a real danger that today's isolated events will spread.

Rather than standing strong and pressing forward with our commitments toour kids, we could start drawing arbitrary bull's-eyes of our own. That'sexpedient. Yet it would be unfair to American schoolchildren, whooutperform most of their international peers on fourth-grade math andscience tests but by the 12th grade trail behind students in otherdeveloped nations.

If only one high school sophomore in 10 passes the new math test, as wasthe case in Arizona, the answer is not to make the test easier, as someparents, teachers and administrators have asked the state's Board ofEducation to do. The answer is to focus on making changes to curriculum andinstruction so more kids can succeed and to provide extra help for thosewho need it. If only 7% of Virginia schools currently meet demanding newaccreditation standards, we should do whatever it takes to strengthen theschools, rather than back off the standards, as the Virginia Board ofEducation seems poised to do.

In Massachusetts and New York, states with tough new exams that high schoolstudents must pass to graduate, high initial failure rates led both stateboards to draw their own bull's-eyes. The first Massachusetts students toface its new graduation requirement will need a score just a single pointabove "failing." In New York, a score of 55 out of 100 on the state RegentsEnglish exam will get you through. If these scores remain in place beyondthe transition year, we'll be cheating our children.

From shouting to unity

Even these isolated instances are troubling, especially on the heels ofthis fall's National Education Summit, which ended with President Clinton,governors and education and business leaders unified on a reform agendathat would have triggered shouting matches a few years ago.

Most important, the consensus was that, without a commitment to standards,all else is wasted motion. Summit participants pledged to develop specificplans, within six months, to do what's necessary to get our kids to thehigher standards: changes in teacher training, more rigorous curricula,better assessments that drive quality instruction and accountability.

Our kids aren't lagging behind much of the world because they aren'tbright. We're behind because of complacent adults in and out of the schoolsystem. Yet predictably, in states where the governors are pushing to acton their commitments, special interests are sounding the call for retreat.

Bear the pain, get the gain

Those governors deserve our support. There's ample evidence that whenofficials have the guts to bear the pain of the transition from lowstandards to high standards, it pays off. In Texas, in the first round oftesting with a new algebra exam, only 27% of the students passed; but thatnumber shot up to 45% three years later. Chicago has mandated summer schoolfor students who don't pass new standardized tests. Most of the kids whocame up short on the first round of testing met the promotional standardsafter completing the summer program. Higher standards coupled with morefunds for teachers' professional development helped students in New YorkCity's District 2 outperform those at schools in wealthier suburban areas.

We don't have to dumb down our tests. We don't have to fall back to thestatus quo. The kids will deliver if we adults have the will to see ourcommitments through with urgency. As their parents, as future employers andas concerned citizens, we must give our kids the chance to achieve atworld-class levels.---------Louis V. Gerstner, the CEO of IBM, organized the National Education Summit.****************To comment to USA Today:

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I hope everyone read the USA Today OP-ED piece by IBM CEO Louis Gerstner onJan 3, 2000. It is very discouraging that people in high places withinfluence are so negatively lopsided about public education.

Gerstner implores states to not back off on high-stakes tests, not matterwhat the consequences. "Bear the pain, get the gain." Getting tough andfailing millions of kids is the answer. That will teach them. Gerstner,and many like him, continually lay all of society's ills at the doorstepsof public schools and blame schools EXCLUSIVELY for failing kids. It'sincomprehensible to me.

When most kids fail a test, as happened in Arizona and Virginia, mostsensible, reasonable people would have to ask if the tests were fair andreasonable. But Gerstner doesn't even acknowledge such a possibility. Heblindly assumes the validity of these high-stakes tests.

Gerstner has been CEO of IBM now for quite a few years and IBM has nevermade a net profit of 50% since his arrival. I wonder if Mr. Gerstner wouldmind if we placed a similar, arbitrary "accountability" requirement on himto make a 50% net profit. otherwise, resign.

Maybe, if the shoe were exchanged, he might feel differently.

He is like so many people, seem to embrace headlines without question, ifthe headlines support their case. Example: The percentage of Texas kidspassing the TAAS math test went from 27% to 45% in 3 years. As PeterSchrag recently pointed out in the www.AmericanProspect.com , perhaps thatis too good to be true.